What’s the deal with all this personal growth and self-development business? Why bother in the first place? Charles Atlas who earned himself the title as the ‘the world’s most perfectly developed man’ had this to say: ‘Truest SUCCESS is but the development of self.’
It’s so easy to treat personal development as ‘optional’ and so few people ever take the time to actively improve themselves. Personal growth and self-development are arguably the most important things you can choose to use your time on. Many even argue that to actualise your true potential is the purpose of being here.
In many ways, all your actions are geared towards ‘self-improvement’. Everything you do, you do with a positive intent. This, however, is mostly unconscious and for most people, it’s a case of pursuing ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ with the (all too common) assumption that when they get enough stuff they will be happy.
Success equals Happiness, really?
You don’t have to search too far to find just how wrong this theory really is. Every day we read about ‘extremely successful’ people who end up in rehab or who have chronic depression. Why? To return to Charles Atlas – true success is but the development of your ‘self’. At no point in your life can you just stop and say, ‘now I am successful – I think I’ll take the next 10 years off’. Unfortunately, this is ‘the dream’ that so many people aspire to.
The key to a lifetime of happiness lies in personal growth. Real and lasting fulfilment in life comes from consistently improving the quality of your life. Life is dynamic; it must keep moving forward. As in nature, everything that does not grow dies! If you are not growing, you are dying and although you probably won’t die a physical death, you most certainly will suffer a psychological death. Depression is but one example of the effects of failing to grow as a person. If you are not growing, you will feel like you are dying.
Everyday life hands us opportunities to grow.
Frequently disguised as problems, most people curse them instead of seeing the wonderful opportunities that they present. Earl Schoff once said ‘Don’t wish for fewer problems. Wish that you were better’. This is where personal growth comes in. The key though is that personal growth must be done purposely and with an active state of mind.
So why do people fail to actively participate in their own personal growth? Well, there are certain personal growth barriers that prevent them from actively progressing in any area of your life. The key word being ‘actively’. The three biggest personal growth barriers are three interrelated behaviours that tend to keep us immobilised and locked up in inaction. The result being the failure to progress with our lives.
Personal Growth Barrier #1: Procrastination
Procrastination is the irrational delay of tasks, especially important ones. On a conscious level you might want a specific result and you know what course of action to take, but still, you remain immobilised. The failure to act is what keeps you where you are. It is likely that what you are procrastinating about is what you MUST do as this will help you grow in your ability to act and just do it. Keep in mind that you only procrastinate about tasks that you value and at some level, you know you will benefit from it.
Personal Growth Barrier #2: Indecision
Every single action is preceded by a decision. The ancestor to every action is a decision and the failure to act can be traced back to the failure to make a decision. The irony is that not deciding, is a decision! Indecision is like a disease that you must be eradicated from your life.
Napoleon Hill in his iconic book Think and Grow Rich has this to say about decision making and wealth; “Analysis of several hundred people who had accumulated fortunes well beyond the million-dollar mark disclosed the fact that every one of them had the habit of reaching decisions promptly.” By contrast, he says, “People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.”
Indecision is simply the result of a fear of making the wrong decision. This is complete nonsense! There is no such thing as a wrong decision. There are decisions and outcomes. If you don’t like the outcome, make another decision to get a new outcome…. repeat as necessary. I’ll say it again; THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A WRONG DECISION.
If you don’t make the decisions, you won’t take the actions and you will remain immobilised.
Personal Growth Barrier #3: Comfort Zones
Comfort zones are all those things that you are too familiar with, often to the point where you don’t even attempt anything else. Inside your comfort zones, everything is known, and you have a (false) sense of certainty that you can comfortably deal with anything that comes your way. You’ve done it before and you feel ‘at ease’ with it. Stepping outside your comfort zones challenge your beliefs and it challenges your perceptions. Stepping outside your comfort zones also challenges you to grow as a person; you must grow to get comfortable outside your old comfort zone.
Most of your limitations are self-imposed and controlled by what you believe is possible, what you like or dislike, what you think is right or wrong. You must keep stretching your ‘self’ physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to avoid standing still and remaining imprisoned by your comfort zones. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, ‘Man’s mind, once stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.’
Conclusion
All barriers are only that – they are barriers. It often strikes me how these typical vehicle barriers at border checkpoints are so ‘flimsy’. They can hardly stop a bicycle, yet they stop big sixteen wheelers. The barrier is more psychological than factual. So are the barriers to your personal growth. They can stop you if you allow them to. Simply acknowledge them and then move on. Personal growth is a choice and it’s an active process. To ensure a happy and fulfilled life that is filled with joy and appreciation you must consistently grow and expand your ‘self’.
Much Love,
Wait…..there is one last thing I want to tell you …
My mission in life is to help men and women seekers who are ready to grow into the most powerful, conscious versions of themselves.
Do you sense that there is more to life than what you currently experience?
Do you wish to experience a life full of possibility, energy and joy?
Have you been searching for your purpose, your definite legacy, your way of changing the world?
If you answered “YES!” and you are ready to do the inner work of manifesting your dream; you may be the right person for a FREE online Coffee Meeting with me. In this meeting, we can figure out some of what is standing in the way of your fulfilment, and how to shift the obstacles.
I must warn you though, working with me is not for everyone; only people who are truly ready to let go of the old and welcome in new energy will find benefit. If you want things to change while they stay the same, this is probably not for you.
I should tell you…I only offer 4 free meetings a month, so the sooner you apply, the sooner we can get started on making your dream a reality!
Book my FREE Coffee with Coach T!